Our Little Tragedy
by Himizu and Kurotamashii
Summary: This is about the Sisterhood's daughters, only Tibby has died. Can the Februarys help Jules cope?
1. Tragic Days

You'd think it'd be the perfect life. What do you think it'd be like if your parents were best friends, and when you were born, you'd have your mom's best friend's kids for friends, ready made? Well, that's how it was for me, Sonia Dunas. My mom, Lena, was bffl with Bridget Vreeland, Carmen Marcas, and Tibby McBrian. All of them married the guy of their dreams, (Except Bee, who never married, but had her daughter because of an 'accident' with her ex- soccer coach, Erik.), so they would never dream of divorce or anything.  
We were all born in February, within 15 days of each other, and all of us were happy for a long time.  
There was me, Emily, Brittney, and Jules. I was a careful artist. Emily wasn't as athletic as her mom, Bridget, but she does have an obsession for archery. Brittney is hispanic, just like her mom, but doesn't have Carmen's "big but beatuiful" bod. Jules is our little tradgedy. She's the youngest one of us, born on February 19th. When we were eight years old, her mom, Tibby, was in a car accident and died. The day that Jules got the news, her dad, Brian, left, and we all hated him for it; and Jules closed off. She threw out all her clothes except the black ones, put her smile and laughs in a box and threw away the key, and wasn't acting like our bffl anymore. Sure, she still hung out with us, but she never laughed when we told a funny story, she was always dramatic, sad, and couldn't let herself be happy at all. Jules moved in with Brittney, and hated life in all forms.  
We had to find a way to help her.

Now, we are 12 years old. This summer, Jules is starting a therapy class that she'll be at from 7:00 to 6:00. I'm going to art camp in California. Emily is going off to Mississippi to do some Midieval archery reenactments all summer, and Brittney is staying home to help her mom in the shop, El Fashionita.

"Lena," I said, (We all just call our moms by their names.), "I need a way to help Jules"  
"What are you talking about, Sonia?" asked my mother, "Do you mean her depression?" Mom is always so insensitive about that word.  
"Uh... yeah. We're all going to we away from her, and I think we might be the only thing tying her to her life"  
Lena thought for a moment. Then a light came into her eyes. "Sonia, hold tight! I'll be right back! I've got an idea"  
I sat drinking my tea that Lena had made me, and a few minutes later, she came back with thephone in one hand and her old art portfolio in the other. "Mom..." I started, "What are you plotting? I can read you. You're up to something"  
So my mother told me about the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and how it helped her Bee, Carmen, Tibby, Kostos, Paul, Brian, Win, David, Bailey, and so many other people. And the Pants. Apparently, Carma had them in her closet, waiting for us. Brittney would start them, and Bee would help us break into Gilda's, which, strangley, was still open.  
"What's with the portfolio?" I asked my mom, pointing at the big black folder.  
Lena pulled out a drawing and before she said a word, I knew exactly what it was. There were four teens, all girls, sitting on a brick wall with their arms around each other and their ankles overlapping. One girl had a nose piercing and a camera, one was hispanic with thick, curly hair, one had long, yellow, beautiful hair, and the other was really beautiful, with great green eyes and dark hair pulled up in a bun.  
It was the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

"Lenny"  
"Hey, Carmabelle! Did you bring them?" "You mean the Pants? Duh! Of course!" said an excited Carmen. She patted down her hair and said, more seriously, "And I found these"  
Carmen held out two video tapes. One said 'Bailey' on a piece of tape, and the other said 'To Jules.  
I've seen most of Tibby's work, but not the To Jules one. I grabbed it from Lena and ran to the VCR and popped the tape in.  
"Hey, Jules! This is Tibby. First of all, I want to say congratulations on your 9th birthday. But now I'll tell you why I REALLY made this tape.  
"I want to say that I love you. That I love you and I'll never stop, as a friend of mine's husband would say. I want you to know that I am proud of you. Not only because of your schoolwork and your writing, but because of your ability to love. When I was your age, I could only 100 pecently love Carma, Lenny, and Bee, but you are so much better at that stuff than me, and that's good, because I was never good at making friends.  
"When things in your life go wrong, don't give up. Don't be miserable. It is okay to be upset about it, but don't let the bad things drag you down. It's the good stuff- like scoring a goal in soccer, and writing a really good poem, and wearing the perfect Pants, and meeting a new friend that really matter. It's the little things that form into one big great event in your life that matters.  
"Remember that, and that I will always love you. And be happy. Smile. Laugh. Learn to like people so you can really like yourself and the world around you. I only truly figured that out 3 years ago, and my life has been ten million times happier since then.  
"Peace out, Jules"  
And then Tibby's movie was over. I turned around and saw Carmen and Lena in the door watching the scren and crying, while talking on the phone to Bee. THey hung up and I said quietly, "This can do it"  
"Do what?" Carma said.  
"It can make Jules happy again."

b Hope you liked Chapter one and I haven't even written chapter two, so PLEASE don't ask what's up next for Sonia, Emily, Brit, and Jules! Just Review! I like reviews!  
Jules (Yup! That's my name! That character was based on me at that age!) 


	2. The Manifesto

b Hey, It's me, Le Author. (No, I don't know french.) I know that my paragraph breaks aren't great and some of the action goes by a bit too fast, but those are two of my weak points. i'll try to get better at that kind of stuff. Try, I said. It might not work out, but whatever. /b brbr/  
brbr/  
"Emily," I said, trying to explain the whole thing for the second time. "I am telling you, that tape is just the thing that Jules needs! SERIOUSLY"  
br br "Sonia," Emily said negatively, "I think this is a great idea, but it's going to take more than just a pair of pants and a movie to cheer that little ray of sunshine up"  
br br "iEMMY/i! Please! This is REALLY important to me! I know that it will take a lot, but you haven't seen these things. Bring Britt over in half an hour, but send Jules off to do something"  
br br "I can come, but where should I send her! You KNOW I can't lie! Or come up with excuses!" Emily yelled into the phone.  
br br I rolled my eyes. Emily is one of my best friends, but I mean, sometimes she can be so stupid. "Just tell Brittney to make up a shopping list for her to take care of. We need to stall her for about three hours"  
br br "Right. Shopping list. Three hours. Gotcha. Peace out"  
br br "Peace." and we both hung up.  
br br Half an hour later, Emily and Brittney showed up. I had the tape ready with the Pants laid out in front of the TV. Brittney said, "Ok. Let's see it," and I pushed i Play /i. When the movie was over, we were all teary- eyed.  
br br "You're right," Emily said, sniffling, "This will work. Brittney, call Jules over here"  
br br Brittney got on the phone and told her to come over, that it was important. "Jules, you HAVE to come!...""No, forget the shopping list! It was a decoy!""you can HAVE the shirt. I don't want it. It's black.""Just get over here, ASAP! And bring Gummi Worms!""No, I told you to buy Gummi Worms!""That is the one thing I DIDN'T want you to forget!" And then she hung up.  
br br "What are the Gummi Worms for?" I asked her.  
br br "Carmen told me that when she was a teen, Tibby would buy Gummi Worms at the beginning of the summer and the end. I'm guessing the Pants are what she meant. I think that since Tibby used to do it, Jules should do it now"  
br br The door bell rang and before we even stood up to answer it, Jules came crashing in with a bag of Gummi Worms in one hand and a shopping bag in the other. She threw the candy to Brittney, and I pulled out an old piece of paper that had been folded up in the Pants.  
At the head of the paper, it said, "iThe Manifesto of the Traveling Pants/i"  
br br "Sonia, what the heck is this? What with the pants?" Jules shot at me.  
br br "Well, our little ray of sunshine Julia," I said sweetly, "These are the Traveling Pants. And today you will be happy once more and candy will fall from the sky and penguins will fly." I couldn't help but rhyme to get everyone laughing. Except Jules. "And iYOU/i, Julia McBrian, will try these magical Pants on. First." And I tossed them to her.  
br br Jules started to pull them on, but when they got to her knees, she realized that she still had her black cargos on. She pulled ALL her pants off and tried again. "I don't see why you want me to wear some dirty old jeans," she whined. But they fit perfectly. She looked good in black cargos, but in these Pants, she was beautiful.  
br br Jules wasn't one to brag, but when she put the Pants on and looked at herself in the mirror, her face didn't exactly light up, but she got a bit of light back in her eyes. She had never been exactly pretty, and none of the boys at school ever failed to point that out, so you'd expect her first look at herself wearing the Pants would be special.  
br br Without a word, she pulled them off and handed them reluctantly back to me. "Nice Pants," she said. "But you have to try them on next"  
I slipped off my capris and put on the Pants. br br "Ha!" I yelled, just for someone to make a noise. "They fit! So I'm going to take them off and sit and... try no to cough?" Emily gave a shriek of laughter at my bad rhyming and Brittney giggled into her hand and even Jules smiled a little bit.  
br br Then it was Emily's turn. She wasn't fat, but she was certainly wider than the rest of us. But one thing we love about Emily is her open mind. She will try ANYTHING, just so she can say she's done it. She took off her track pants and pulled them slowly and ceremoniously up. She certainly slowed down as she got closer to her butt, but she was able to pull them up without a fuss.  
br br Now was Brittney's turn. Britt is very picky about pants and will take only the best. She looked at the Pants with a critical eye before she put them on, but they fit perfectly. "These aren't some of the best pants I've ever tried on," she said, and we all got very worried, but she continued. They're the best of the best!Better than that even!" We all laughed. They fit perfectly. br br That was one stage done. Now was the hard part. "Jules," Emily said carefully, "You have to watch this movie. It might be hardfor you, but please. Don't talk till it's over. Just watch." I played the movie and Jules watched it silently, her face not showing any emotion or anything. She didn't cry, or laugh, or gasp. She just watched. br br Jules waited until I pushed Stop, then she did something we never expected. She jumped up and tore out of the house, slamming every door she went through.  
br br Oh Crap. 


	3. Throwing Rocks of Many Colors

b AUTHOR'S NOTE- I"m getting a bit bored of writing Sonia's PoV, so I'm switching to Jules. More powerful and easier for me to write. And also, you might be wondering why Tibby said "Congradulations on your ninth birthday." in the video. It's because she had made that for Jules' ninth, but died about a month before her birthday./b br br JULES PoV br br I crashed out of the house, not even bothering to get my bike. I just ran. All my thoughts were a jumbled mess. My usual dark thoughts mixed with some that seemed familiar, but I hadn't seen since That Day. I think of things in colors. Not words or feelings, but colors. There was the grey and the black and the dark blues and greens, but there were also pinks, and turquose, and lavender. I could remember those colors standing out on all my birthdays up to the eighth one. And I remember those colors in my head everyday I was with my girls 'til That Day.  
br br I just ran and ran. I wasn't sure about where I was going, but finally I collapsed in the park by the lake. I picked up a hobby I used to have then. I used to sit in this same spot, throwing rocks into the water. One for every bad thought I had, 'til I had thrown them all away.  
br br This could be the end of this. I could be free from Hot Topics and black and frowns. I loved my mom. No... I ilove/i her. I still do. And I would do anything that she told me to. And she told me to be happy.  
br br "Hey, Jules," I looked up. It was Emily's mom, Bridget. "I heard about what happened with the video." I looked into the water, refusing to talk. Of all the moms, I really respected Bee. "You know ALL about my mom, don't you"  
br br I looked up and shook my head. "No. Just that she's dead. Is there any MORE to that story"  
br br Bridget shook her long yellow hair out of her eyes. "Well, looks like I'm going to have to tell you all about her. Don't interrupt me 'til I'm done." I nodded. br br "Well," she said, like she was a big time storyteller, "My mom's name was Marly. She was a lot like me. Athletic, happy, carefree, and she had The Hair. I loved my Marly, and she loved me. And Perry. You know, my twin brother.  
br br "But Marly wasn't always happy. One day she'd be everywhere, dancing and singing around the house. The next she wouldnt' get out of bed 'til dinner.  
br br "She developed diabetes when I was... oh... ten years old. You know that needle they have to prick themselves with to take their sugar?" I nodded, too into the story to talk. "Well, when I was about twelve years old, your age now, me and Perry were at school, and she pricked herself. But it was more than just a prick in the finger. She got herself about five times in the neck.  
br br "I walked into the house and saw her on the kitchen floor. Her hair was all fanned out around her head, and there was the needle. And the blood. She had killed herself." I gasped. I couldn't help it. It was too horrible, and I felt so sorry for poor Bee. "I screamed and screamed and wouldn't stop until someone pulled me away. It was so sad. My Marly was gone forever." Bee stopped to brush away a tear.  
br br Finally I said something. "Why are you telling me this? Why are you trying to make me miserable"  
br br "I'm not done yet, Julia McBrian. Just wait." said Bee, holding a hand over my mouth.  
br br "Well obviously I was miserable. Other than Tibbadee, Carmabelle, and Lenny, she was my best friend. I mean, how would you feel if you lost... say... Sonia"  
br br I thought about it and shuddered. "It would break my heart," I said truthfully.  
br br "Well me, I've always been a happy person, you know? But finally, that day, I crashed on the rocks. Lena, Tibs, and Carma were so worried about me. They helped build me back up, to what I was. And they did. It was just like you now. They are trying to make you happy. Trying to ihelp/i you. They just want you to be happy.  
br br "I was all over the place after that. Doing great in soccer, not doing great in school, shopping, laughing, dating, all sorts of things. But evey now and then, I would crash on the rocks, but never for long. Except with Erik. You know Erik? Emily's dad? Yeah, he was off- limits when I first met him. But did that stop me? No. br br "I seduced him. iMade/i him like me. So one night, after weeks of work to get there, he kissed me. But I wasn't satisfied like I thought I would be. When I went home, I dyed my hair brown. I quit soccer. I stopped running. I gained weight. I wasn't Bee anymore. But I got better in just one summer. And you can do it too"  
br br "Come on. I'll give you a lift back to the Greekies' house. Good job with running all the way here. It was seven miles, you know that"  
br br In the car, I said, "Bee, what made you get over Erik"  
br br She shifted a bit uncomrortably in her seat. Then she smiled and said, "I met another guy and took a few steps down Memory Lane." And I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I laughed. I laughed so hard that tears came to my eyes and I could barely breathe. I laughed all seven miles back home and then, because Bee wanted me to be able to breathe when I waked in, she drove around the block a few times. When we walked into Sonia's living room, I was still giggling. The girls looked at me in surprise and threw their arms around me, all of them laughing their heads off.  
br br I wonder if this laughing thing will become a habit of mine. If it does, I won't mind. 


End file.
